The Dress Diary of Mrs Anne Sykes
Secrets from a Victorian Woman’s Wardrobe
by Kate Strasdin
published by Random House UK, Vintage, Chatto & Windus
ISBN 9781784743819
Oh, how I enjoyed this book! Not only is it a great read, but it's quite informative and very well-written, too.
The author was given an old album containing 422 pages, 2134 fabric swatches, and captions, which began in the 1830s. She was intrigued and set about looking for clues as to who it belonged to, deciding to transcribe the captions by hand. Since the captions were written in the 3rd person, she wasn't having any luck until she came to one that used 'I.' Then she knew that the book had belonged to Mrs. Anne Sykes and she was on her way. Because she was dealing with something belonging to a woman that contained swatches related mostly to clothing (there were only 8 swatches devoted to home furnishings), information was not always easy to find. Although she reached a few dead ends and some of her questions remain unanswered, she was able to track down a great deal of information. I found the book fascinating.
The fabric swatches in Mrs. Sykes' diary were not all from her own clothing. Friends, family, and others gave her little pieces of fabric that they'd used to have their own clothes made. Anne carefully placed all the swatches in her book and wrote captions, indicating whose fabric it was and sometimes the occasion on which the resulting clothing was worn. The author used this information to look into various aspects of life during the time span of the diary. For example, Anne and her merchant husband, Adam, spent 7 years in Singapore living in a British community there. Through the fabric swatches and captions, followed by the author's research, we learn about what life was like in such communities, what people felt about being so far from home, the relationships that developed, and the kinds of material goods that were a part of everyday life. When they returned to England, styles had changed and we learn about the kinds of events and occasions that people of a certain class would have attended, how mourning fashions evolved and became big business, and more.
The author rightly categorizes the album as a form of life writing. She states,"Anne's story is both remarkable and ordinary. She gave voice to the women in her world. She caught a tiny piece of them and protected their colourful variety in her most unusual of diaries. Not through her written word do we find these women, and Anne Sykes herself, but through these precious pieces of cloth." (p 268)
The book contains a bibliography and colour photos of the fabric swatches discussed.
I highly recommend this book. 5 stars.
I received a digital copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for a review. I thank them, the publisher, and the author.
6 comments:
That's very different, I've never read anything like it. Glad you enjoyed it so much!
It was a great read. One of the things I enjoyed about it was her detective work, trying to track down information from the few clues she had. :-)
Oh, dear Shari,
I believe you at your word that this book is fascinating! It's a glimpse into another time. A woman living in the Victorian era captured something of her everyday and fashion life for "eternity", without knowing or suspecting that anyone in later years might be interested in it. It's like cave painting, only not so distant in time... And the author worked like an archaeologist (or detective) to build a bigger picture from clues from the past.
Have a good week!
Traude 😘
https://rostrose.blogspot.com/2023/03/costa-rica-8-kapitel-nationalpark.html
It must have been a fascinating project to work on :-)
This is certainly a different type of book to what I would choose, but it does sound very good. Many thanks for highlighting it.
All the best Jan
She did a fine job tracking down information and writing a fascinating book :-)
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